Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte was visibly upset on the field Tuesday night after a spectator at Chicago’s Rate Field heckled him about his late mother, who died in a car accident eight years ago. The incident left Marte in tears, and the fan was immediately ejected from the stadium.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and teammate Geraldo Perdomo both confirmed after the game that a fan had yelled something at Marte regarding his late mother during play.

In 2017, when Marte was just 23 years old, his mother, Elpidia Valdez, was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. The news came during his first season with the Diamondbacks, who had acquired him from the Seattle Mariners as part of the Taijuan Walker trade just months earlier.

Marte had been establishing himself as a key player for Arizona at the time. He had started the 2017 season with Triple-A Reno before being called up to the majors on June 28. With the team dealing with injuries to other infielders — Nick Ahmed was out with a broken hand, and Chris Owings had just suffered a broken finger — Marte was beginning to see increased playing time at shortstop.

When news of his mother’s death broke, the Diamondbacks immediately placed Marte on the bereavement list so he could return to the Dominican Republic to be with his family.

Marte had posted about his mother’s death on his Instagram account, sharing a photo of Valdez along with the news.

Marte has been one of baseball’s best performers this season. The 31-year-old second baseman started the scoring for Arizona on Tuesday night with a 401-foot solo homer to right-center field in what ended up a 4-1 Diamondbacks win over the Chicago White Sox. Marte is batting .320 with 15 home runs and 32 RBIs through the first part of the season, posting an impressive 1.017 OPS.

Coming off a stellar 2024 campaign, in which he finished third in National League MVP voting and won a Silver Slugger Award, Marte has continued his elite production and remains a cornerstone of Arizona’s lineup as the Diamondbacks look to return to the playoffs.

(Photo: Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)